Looking for a Leadership with a Strategy
In this Roundtable, Al-Shabaka Policy Advisors Haidar Eid and Samah Sabawi as well as guest contributor Loubna Qutami discuss Noura Erakat’s policy brief Beyond Sterile Negotiations: Looking for a Leadership with a Strategy. They critique issues relating to the Boycott National Committee (BNC), the questions of representation and self-determination, the colonial condition, and the future of the struggle. In her response, Erakat expresses her concern over the fragmentation of the Palestinian national body and the failure to articulate a political vision for a solution. She argues that Palestinians should adopt a one-state solution as a political vision that aims for the equality of all persons irrespective of nationality, ethnicity, religion, or race.
Beyond Sterile Negotiations: Looking for a Leadership with a Strategy
Given the abject failure of the Palestine Liberation Organization to secure Palestinian rights since it was established, and especially since it adopted an exclusive peace process track, Al-Shabaka Policy Advisor Noura Erakat argues that it is past time to explore how a national liberation strategy can be elaborated — and who can lead it. She discusses the transnational Palestinian networks that are being formed as well as the Boycott National Committee. The former have aspirations to build political programs and authoritative leadership but are still in their early stages, while the latter has become a leading body but has deliberately opted against a political program and leadership. She explores the South Africa model, and argues for a dual approach of working for rights while at the same time actively seeking answers to the pressing need for a unified political program and leadership.
A Reset for U.S. Policy? Not Now, But Watch the Base
What can be expected from the final months of the Obama Administration on the Arab-Israeli conflict? Al-Shabaka Policy Advisor Rashid Khalidi is pessimistic about any policy shift in the foreseeable future. Indeed, he describes President Barack Obama’s UN speech in September as the worst ever by an American president and AIPAC (the American Israel Public Affairs Committee) as far more effective today than it was in the 1970s and 1980s, partly due to the efforts of Dennis Ross. In this wide-ranging interview with Al-Shabaka Policy Advisor Victor Kattan, Khalidi explains why he sees no hope at present for a just U.S. policy, although this could change if public opinion — which is much more enlightened than that of U.S. policy makers — makes itself felt through the media and at the political level.
The Russell Tribunal on Palestine and the Question of Apartheid
The third session of the Russell Tribunal on Palestine recently convened in Cape Town, South Africa. Its perhaps most controversial finding was that Israel applies a system of apartheid to the entire Palestinian people, including its own citizens. What is the significance of this finding, and what does it mean for civil society in Palestine and the Diaspora — and for Israel and its supporters? In this policy brief, Al-Shabaka Policy Advisor Victor Kattan describes what apartheid means under international law, highlights the Tribunal’s findings, and explains its significance.
What’s Next for Palestine?
The failure of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s bid for full membership in the United Nations marks the end of the road for the Palestinian Authority, argues Al-Shabaka policy advisor Samah Sabawi. She discusses the PA’s disarray and notes that future setbacks can only be avoided with a completely different approach in the struggle for human rights.
The Geopolitics of the Hamas-Israel Prisoner Exchange
Each of the key actors involved in the Israeli Palestinian conflict is using the Hamas-Israel prisoner exchange to position themselves to regional advantage although it is too soon to tell who will come out ahead. Al-Shabaka Policy Advisor Laila El-Haddad examines the way in which the shifting geopolitics will impact internal Palestinian dynamics.
Prisoner Exchange Levels Hamas, Fatah Playing Field
Will the threats from Washington and the exposed impotence of the European Union push the newly revived Hamas and the somewhat deflated Fatah into serious reconciliation and the beginnings of a common Palestinian platform? Mouin Rabbani, Al-Shabaka Policy Advisor and Senior Fellow at the Institute for Palestine Studies, dissects the rapidly changing political landscape in the wake of the Israel-Hamas prisoner exchange and the run-up to the Security Council decision on the Palestine Liberation Organization’s bid at the United Nations.
Statehood Stalled: Next Steps for the Palestinian People
Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ decision to submit the application for membership to the UN Security Council rather than the General Assembly last week enabled him – and the Obama administration – to take a step back from confrontation. Al-Shabaka Director Nadia Hijab examines the several unintended consequences of the statehood bid and argues that the Palestinian people should use this time to redouble efforts to save the land of Palestine, press for accountability, demand representation, and exploit the legal approaches offered by the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice, calling for state sanctions against Israel alongside the highly successful boycott and divestment movement.
September and Beyond: Who Speaks in My Name?
As the UN vote on recognition of the state of Palestine approaches later this month, Al-Shabaka policy advisor Samah Sabawi argues in this commentary that the controversy surrounding the bid obscures the larger question of whether the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority are legitimate representatives of the Palestinian people.
